Today’s millennials demands larger, much expensive homes than other previous generations, with an average price of $217,000 for 1,800 sq.ft. Much more pricey than baby boomer homes and just 11% less expensive than Gen X homes. 54% buy homes with shared amenities, such as a clubhouse with a community gym or swimming pool. These preferences make the suburbs the more economical choice for young home buyers.

Tips For The Millennial Homebuyer

The Millennial homebuyer, a consumer 18 to 34 years old, makes up 42 percent of the homebuyers today. This generation is making a huge impact on the housing business. It also faces unique challenges when buying a home. As a Millennial, you grew up during the Great Recession (December 2007 – June 2009). There’s a good chance you were touched by high unemployment, student loan debt and tight credit standards. Don’t let these challenges cause you to… Read more at The Mortgage Reports

The times of the renting and urban-dwelling millennial are fading. The young millennials’ impact is substantial and are increasingly shaping the way home buyers shop for their new homes. Home buyers under 36 years old make up half of the current housing market.

A look at millennial homebuyers

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are the youngest group of buyers today. However, this market segment, ages 18-34, has to deal with some obstacles that were not a factor for previous generations. So, what are the top issues facing this group of prospective buyers and how they can overcome them?… Read more at Lansing State Journal

The Unique Profile of the Millennial Home Buyer of Today

Millennials are way more collaborative in their process of finding a home than the older generations are. They tend to utilize all the available tools, including their phones, social media and online networks. Older generations rely more heavily on the real estate agent for information and advice… Watch here

Household debt climbed to $12.58 trillion by the end of 2016, nearly breaking 2008’s record high, the article stated. In fact, if it continues at this rate, household debt could break the high of $12.68 trillion sometime in 2017.

Household debt to hit new record in 2017

Household debt climbed to $12.58 trillion by the end of 2016, nearly breaking 2008’s record high, the article stated. In fact, if it continues at this rate, household debt could break the high of $12.68 trillion sometime in 2017… Read more at Housingwire.com

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported last week that US household debt reached a new all-time high in the 1Q of this year. The new report also included some troubling internal metrics, not only on the overall household debt levels but also with regard to the level of delinquencies. I’ll give you the details below.

Household Debt Hits New Record High, Stocks Stumble

The New York Fed reported that US household debt and credit hit a new all-time high in the 1Q, despite the fact that the economy continues to recover (albeit slowly), the unemployment rate continues to fall and business investment has increased. The Fed reported that household debt climbed to a record $12.73 trillion at the end of the 1Q, up $149 billion from the 4Q of last year. Gains in mortgage debt, auto debt and student loan debt were all cited as reasons for the… Read more at Valuewalk.com

U.S. Household Debt: A New, Alarming Milestone

U.S. debt is on the rise and could reach a milestone level sometime in 2017. Student debt has risen for 18 consecutive years, and subprime loans are a growing worry in another sector… Watch here

The average consumer is predicting that there will be much higher mortagage rates in 2017, but this does not keep them from buying a new home. Higher rental rates are making the relative cost of owning a new home lower each day.

3-In-5 Consumers Now Predict Higher Mortgage Rates In 2017

Most recent National Housing Survey, 60 percent of consumers think the era of rates in the 3s is firmly in the past. The survey, which covers 1,000 households, measures changing consumer attitudes toward mortgages and housing nationwide.Attitudes have shifted surprisingly since a few months ago. In October 2016, “only” half of… Read more at The Mortgage Reports

Economists forecasts that mortgage rates will continue to go up in 2017, just one of the trends that suggest that this year will be a challenging year for people who will be purchasing homes.

Higher mortgage rates seen in 2017

Smoke predicts mortgage rates will reach 4.5 percent in 2017. Other economists expect rates to remain above 4 percent but not to go beyond 5 percent this year. That range would mean mortgage rates that would be low compared with the past decade. Average long-term mortgage rates were above 6 percent during the height of the last housing boom, and they hadn’t hit 5 percent before 2008. So someone looking to buy a home in the… Read more at Business Mirror

HOW THE FED’s INTEREST RATE INCREASE CAN AFFECT YOU 2017

Because the rate has been close to zero since 2008, as part of the Fed’s strategy to bring the nation out of a recession, there’s hardly anywhere for it to go but up. As the economy improves and President-elect Donald J. Trump unveils his stimulus package, economists expect rates to rise steadily over a period of years… Watch here

Home Depot proved there is definitely still demand for home improvement. The company announced on Tuesday that its revenue climbed 5.8% to $22.2 billion in the fourth quarter, beating earnings estimates. The largest home-improvement retailer is benefiting from a yearslong rebound in housing prices that has made homeowners more willing to spend on their properties because they see them as a sound investment.

Home Depot beats earnings estimates as revenue surges to $22B

Home Depot recorded a strong fourth quarter in 2016, thanks to homeowners continuing to value spending money on their properties, according to an article in Bloomberg by Matthew Townsend. The home improvement store’s profits increased to $1.44 a share last quarter… Read more at Housingwire.com

Home Depot said it plans to funnel more cash back to shareholders. The board boosted the company’s quarterly dividend 29 percent to 89 cents a share. The company increased its targeted dividend-payout ratio to 55 percent of net earnings, up from 50 percent.

Home Depot Profit Tops Estimates As Fix-up Spending Marches On

The largest home-improvement retailer is benefiting from a yearslong rebound in housing prices that has made homeowners more willing to spend on their properties because they see them as a sound investment. That’s helped Home Depot avoid the malaise that has spread across much of retail, where… Read more at SentinelSource.com

Profit increased to $1.44 a share last quarter, the Atlanta-based company said Tuesday. That topped analysts’ estimates and came along with strong sales and a plan to return more cash to shareholders… Watch here

The latest report from the California Association of Realtors, shows that closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 420,100 units in January 2017. That is an impressive up of 2.1% from the 411,430 level in December 2016, and up 4.4% when compared with home sales in January last year of a revised 402,220.

California home sales start 2017 on a strong note

According to the CAR report, the median price of an existing, single-family detached California home fell 3.8% from a revised $508,870 in December to $489,580 in January. That also marked the first time in since March 2016 that California’s median sales price fell below half a million dollars. But as CAR’s report notes, the decline from December to January is smaller than normal, which indicates health… Read more at HousingWire

The index rate, plummeted a full month to 3 months in March from 4 months in February. And added to that perspective, the index stood at 3.6 months in March 2016. Meanwhile, the median price of an existing, single-family detached California home increased to more than $500,000 in March, rising to $517,020.

Despite adverse conditions, California home-buying season off to a good start

While low housing inventory and slow wage growth are par for the course in California, the state pushed past those roadblocks to record a strong start to the year, according to the California Association of Realtors’ latest report, which collects data from more than 90 local Realtor associations and MLSs statewide. Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of… Read more at HousingWire

How NIMBYs drive up housing prices in California

Carson Bruno explains how NIMBYs are making California’s affordable housing crisis even worse by blocking much needed, high-density urban development projects… Watch here

When mortgage rates move a quarter percent in any direction, that is a big deal. But waiting in the background are fees for homeowners associations or HOA dues. It’s advised to never ever overlook them. HOA dues are an expense that can sink many loan applications and can create some personal financial isssues. This is very true for first-time home buyers and those with marginal finances.

Are HOA Dues Making Real Estate Unaffordable?

With HOAs, the situation is not so simple. Some 68 million people live in communities governed by homeowner associations, a form of community government created by developers as they build-out their projects. Designed to help manage anywhere from a few homes to thousands of properties, HOA dues and… Read more at The Mortgage Reports

A couple of hundred dollars in a transaction typically dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars might not seem like a big deal. But for Stan Hrincevich, a resident of Highlands Ranch, the scenario is an injustice that bilks Colorado homeowners out of millions of dollars.

Highlands Ranch resident crusading against HOA transfer fees

You are about to sell your house in a local planned community. All the paperwork is ready. You notice a single line item charging you $350, labeled as a transfer fee for “unreimbursed expenses” incurred — usually by your homeowners association’s property management company — during the transfer of the home to a new owner. You don’t get a receipt and you cannot finalize sale of your home if you don’t pay it… Read more at The Denver Post

Some firms offer to report HOA dues as a monthly trade line; which is how credit card payments are reported. So you’d have to report every homeowner, every month — whether they pay their dues on time, or not. Reporting every homeowner, every month, can be a great burden on your Board… Watch here

President-elect Donald Trump is making waves in the real estate market as his election affects not only the stock markets, which reached record highs late last week, but also caused mortgage rates to shoot up.

According to data provided by Zillow, the 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate spiked in the aftermath of Trump’s election, rising from 3.38% on Tuesday to 3.8% on Monday morning. So what does that mean for the real estate market in New York? At first, many buyers began canceling their views and delaying contracts, according to an article by Ronda Kaysen for The New York Times. As it turns out, it didn’t take long for this uneasiness to subside.

But even a few days can make a difference. By the end of the week, potential buyers were rescheduling appointments they had canceled on Wednesday, Mr. Kliegerman [president of Halstead Property Development Marketing] said. Others who had spent the summer cautiously eyeing apartments were finally signing contracts, relieved that the election was over. “The phone has been ringing a lot this week,” Mr. Debbas [partner at the boutique law firm Romer Debbas] said. “People are realizing that the world’s not ending.”

Mortgage rates are drastically going up after the U.S. election of President Donald Trump, then leveled off in the weeks that followed. However, while mortgage rates leveled off, they are still steadily going up. Data from Bankrate shows 49 U.S. states and the District of Columbia all experienced an increase in mortgage rates from last week. The only state to break that increasing trend was Missouri, which remained steady from the previous week at 3.98 percent.

Here are the top 10 states with the highest mortgages rates

Mortgage rates are actually creating a pattern all their own, as they have not been following the 10-year Treasury yield, Freddie Mac’s weekly survey pointed out. And as the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sees its rates increase, consumers move toward alternative mortgage options such as adjustable-rate mortgages, Ellie Mae’s most recent Origination Insight Report shows… Read more at HousingWire.com

If you are looking and planning to purchase a new home in the near future, right now is the perfect time to make it happen, with interest rates still near historic lows. Interest rates are not uniformly low all across the country, though. Some U.S. states have relatively high average rates. But even though you live in those states, there is little reason for you to worry about.

10 States With the Highest Mortgage Rates

For context, mortgage rates for 30-year loans hit a nearly three-year high of 4.32% in December, and were recently around 4.27%. The Fed has begun raising interest rates and some experts are suggesting that mortgage rates could exceed 6% by 2020. So which states offer the worst interest rates these days? Well… Read more at The Motley Fool

Current Mortgage Rates & Trumponomics

What are the current mortgage rates and how are they being affected with the new President elect Donald Trump? Since the election a new term has been invented called Trumponomics. Trumponomics is all ready affecting our economy and the current interest rates. How high will these mortgage rates rise? In this video… Watch here

After trending down for most of the week, the 10-year Treasury yield rose following the release of the CPI report. In contrast, the 30-year mortgage rate fell three basis points to 4.09%, the 3rd straight week of falling down.

Mortgage Rates Lower for Third Consecutive Week

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage… Read more at FreddieMac.com

The average 30-year rate fell another 8 basis points (0.08 percent) to 4.12 percent this week according to Freddie Mac, in its weekly survey of more than 100 lenders nationwide. Rates dropped from a 33-month high set the last week of December. This is a first change of protocol for today’s mortgage rate shopper.

Freddie Mac: Mortgage Rates Pull Back From 33-Month High

Mortgage rates tend to run up quickly then fall in response to an overreaction in the marketplace. The Mortgage Reports predicted falling rates in January due to this phenomenon, and it appears the forecast was correct. As a home buyer or… Read more at The Mortgage Reports

It was the first time since 2014 that rates started a year above 4%. It was the first run through since 2014 that rates began a year over 4%.Rates for home advances slid in the primary week of the year, the principal week to score a diminishing since the… Watch here

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is quite the place to be nowadays, especially if you have problems with how the federal government functions. Fresh off handing down a significant ruling in the fight for the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals just dealt a huge body blow to the investors who claimed that the government’s decision to sweep all the profits from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into the government’s coffers was not only illegal, but unnecessary as well.

Court rejects hedge funds claims in Fannie, Freddie profit sweep

The issue at hand is the so-called “Third Amendment sweep,” in which the federal government modified its conservatorship agreement with Fannie and Freddie to direct all profits from the government-sponsored enterprises to the Department of the Treasury. The government claimed at the time that the previous version of the conservatorship agreement, which required Fannie and Freddie to send a quarterly dividend to the Treasury… Read more at HousingWire.com

An individual purchased a stock with an understanding that the rules affecting loss and profit won’t change without warning. The United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit apparently believes otherwise. On the 21st of February, the court ruled 2 to 1 that investors in shares of secondary residential mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, as managed by the New York hedge fund, Perry Capital LLC has no right whatsoever to realize their accrued profits.

National Legal and Policy Center on many occasions has analyzed the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financial crisis and the various proposed remedies for it. The problem has its roots in the implicit, and misguided, idea that homeownership is a right and that housing policy must promote that right at whatever risk to the public. For decades, these publicly-traded companies, for better or worse, have played a central role in… Read more at National Legal and Policy Center